Black cats were commonly thought to be familiars of witches.
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Familiars are animal spirits that come from the devil and are given to witches or sorcerers as a gift. Familiars are universally known, described in several different cultures around the world. It helps the witch by assisting with the casting spells, performing magical quests, or causing a human sickness and death. It only obeys the one witch or sorcerer and will not listen to anybody else. The witch will feed the familiars with blood through her fingers, thumb, or breast. The markings on the body made by the sucking familiars were known as “witches marks.” These animals were commonly cats, dogs, mice, birds, or toads.

The Bruxsa often takes the form of a bird during the night.
©BloodyLexicon.com

The Bruxsa is from Portuguese lore and is a female vampire witch. She is described as being a beautiful woman in the day and leaves in the form of a bird at night looking for lost travelers or babies. She is able to have marry and have children and will eat them. She will attack and suck the blood from infants sleeping in their cribs and is hard to kill. Unlike many other witches, her choice to be evil is hers, rather than the cause of an accident or a birth defect. The Bruxsa is said to be immortal and has immense sorcerous powers. She is able to cause miscarriages, storms, droughts and disease. Garlic is a good repellent for the Bruxsa, and she cannot be killed by mortal means.